名人小故事哲学思想家6：Francis Bacon 弗朗西斯·培根

Francis Bacon

弗朗西斯·培根

Francis Bacon’s words “knowledge is power” are well-known to us. This talented boy is so clever that he entered the Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of twelve and lived for three years there with his older brother.At Cambridge he met the Queen for the first time. The Queen was impressed by his precocious intellect, and was accustomed to call him “the young Lord Keeper”. He began to study law at Gray’s Inn, but his studies were interrupted for two and a half years while he served with the English ambassador to France. The sudden death of his father in February 1579 prompted Bacon to return to England. Sir Nicholas had laid up a considerable sum of money to purchase an estate for his youngest son, but he died before doing so, and Francis was left with only a fifth of that money. Having borrowed money, Bacon got into debt. To support himself, he reentered Gray’s Inn. He made rapid progress. He was admitted to the bar in 1582.

我们都知道弗朗西斯·培根的名言“知识就是力量”。这位极富才华的少年天资聪颖，十二岁便进入剑桥大学三一学院，和他哥哥一起在那度过了三年时光。在剑桥时，他第一次见到女王，女王对他早熟的才华印象深刻，并习惯地称他为“小掌玺大臣”。他在葛莱学院学习法律。但是他中途中断了两年半学业，为英国驻巴黎大使工作。1579年2月，培根的父亲尼古拉斯猝死，使他提前回到英国。他父亲生前为他最小的儿子准备了一大笔购买不动产的钱，可惜他在购买前去世了，培根只得到了那笔钱的五分之一。因为借款，培根债务缠身。为养活自己，他重新回到葛莱学院学习。此后他取得了快速的进步，于1582年成为一名律师。

Bacon’s goals were threefold: discovery of truth, service to his country, and service to the church. Knowing that a prestigious post would aid him toward these ends, in 1580 he applied, through his uncle, for a post at court. It’s a pity that his application failed. However, Bacon’s fortune soared in the next dozen years. In 1613 he was appointed attorney general and in 1618 lord chancellor.

培根有三个方面的目标：发现真理，为国尽忠，服务教会。他知道一个显赫的职位有助于他实现这些目标，于是1580年他就通过叔叔申请了一个在法院的职位，但申请失败了。然而培根的运气在接下来的十多年里迅速好转。1613年，他被任命为检察长，1618年晋 升为大法官。

Disaster struck soon after. He was convicted by the High Court of Parliament for accepting bribes. Then he was sentenced to a fine and imprisonment. From then on, Bacon devoted himself to study and writing. Some historians believe Bacon may have been innocent of the bribery charges; Bacon himself said that he pleaded guilty by force deliberately so to save the king from a worse political scandal.

但是灾难很快降临。他被英国上议院法庭认定犯有受贿罪，判处罚金和监禁。从那以后，培根将精力放在了学术和写作上。一些历史学家认为，关于受贿的指控，培根可能是无辜的。培根自己说为了避免国王涉入更严重的政治丑闻，他不得不承认有罪。

By the end of March 1626, Bacon came to the suburb of North London through the snow. Suddenly he wanted to do an experiment concerning the possibility of using the
snow to preserve meat. At that time he was studying hot and cold theory and its practical application. However, because of his frail body, he could not withstand the invasion of cold. His bronchitis relapsed and conditions deteriorated. Soon he died in April 9, 1626 early morning, leaving assets of about 7,000 and debts to the amount of 22,000.
 

1626年3月底的一天，培根踏着积雪去伦敦北郊。他突发奇想，决定做一个关于用雪来保存肉的可能性的实验，当时他正在研究冷热理论及其实际应用问题。然而，他身体虚弱，没能经受住风寒的侵袭，导致他支气管炎复发。随后，他病情恶化，于1626年4月9日的清晨病逝，留下了 7，000英镑财产和22，000英镑的债务。